Container and closure



y 9, 1939- J. ARMITAGE ET AL 2,157,842

CONTAINER AND CLOSURE Filed Sept. -l9, 1936 2 Shee'ts-Sh-aet l INVENTOR.

JOHN L.ARM/TA6E.

By JOHN E. \SHARR May 9, 1939.

J. 1.. ARMITAGE El AL 2,157,842

CONTAINER AND CLOSURE Filed Sept. 19, 1936 2 Sheets$heet 2 7 13 lllllflllllllllllllllllIll lllllll 1 INVENT OR. JOHN LARMITAGE. By JOHN LJHARR MORNQ.

Patented May 9, 1939 PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER AND CLOSURE John L. Armitage and John E. Sharp, New Kensington, Pa., assignors to Aluminum Company of America,lPittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania,

Application September 19, 1936, Serial No. 101,609

3 Claims.

The present inventionlrelates to closures: for bottles and like containers, and relates particularly toclosures having caps detachably secured to containers by threads or the like.

It is an object of thisinvention to provide an improved container closure of the type shown in U. -S. Patent 1,895,884, wherein a screw-threaded closure cap is locked to a container by a frangible band to'prevent tampering with the contents of the container. In the past it has been customary to provide the frangible band either with tabs which are grasped to tear the band, or with weakened portions that will break upon rotation of th'eclosure cap, or with a combination of thesefeatures. It is a further object of this invention to provide an improvement applicable to any closure consisting of detachable closure cap and locking band, which adds an additional safeguard to the tamperproof advantages of prior combinations, so that the contents are doubly secure.-- These and additional objects and advantages, particularly in the matter of economy, will bebetter understood when considered along with the description accompanying the drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is aside elevation of thecomponent parts of an illustrative embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 isa side elevation of the locking band of Fig. I

is a side elevation of the closure cap of Fig 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the container of Fi 1 sealed in accordance with this invention; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the sealed container of Fig. 4.

With reference now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a metal cup-like closure cap I, preferably made of aluminum, has an outwardly disposed bottom bead 2. The locking band 3, also preferably made of aluminum, consists of an upper ring-like portion 4 joined by a shoulder 5 to a lower ring-like portion 6 of greater diameter than the upper one. Elongated tear-off tabs 1 integral with the band have transverse cuts or scores 8 located below the tabs and extending preferably through only the shoulder 5 and part of the depth of the portion 6. The ends of the tabs and also the upper skirt portion of the cap may be provided with knurling to aid in removal.

The cap and band are telescopically assembled as shown in Fig. 1, so that the cap bead 2 contacts the band shoulder 5 to support the band. It is apparent that the band may be supported otherwise so long as the cap and band remain detachable. The container 9,: such as a bottle or the like, is also shown in Fig. 1, which is provided with a finish suitable for use with the described closure cap and locking band. The finish consists of a screw-threaded portion l adjacent the mouth of the container and an annular head or rib ll immediately below the threaded portion, which rib or bead is shaped to receive the locking band 3. The bead or rib terminates with a shoulder I2 which serves to retain the locking band.

As shown in Fig. 4, the closure cap is positioned over the mouth of the container and is secured thereto by threads [3 which engage corresponding threads of the container. It is customary to provide the cap with a liner (not shown) of compressible material to insure al'liquidproof seal. The cap is locked to the container by the band 3, which in turn is secured to the container by an inwardly extending shoulder I4 which engages the shoulder I2 of the rib II. The tear-off tabs 1 of the locking band, between the point of junction with the band and the ends, conform with the thread-like convolutions of the closure cap, preferably in a complementary manner, and bear thereupon. The free ends I of the tabs, as shown in Fig. 5, are folded down against the top of the cap, so that the band in turn is locked to the container until the tabs are displaced from contact with the cap.

To afiix the closure cap shown in the drawings, we prefer to form the threads in situ; that is to say, to position the plain-skirted closure cap and locking band upon the container, and while applying top pressure to the cap, to form threads I in the cap skirt and simultaneously to lay the tabs against the cap skirt by the'progressive rolling in which the adjacent threaded portion of the container is used as a mandrel. A machine capable of affixing the closure in this manner is described in U. S. Patent No. 1,674,266. There are numerous other ways in Which the complete closure combination of this invention can be obtained. For example, the closure cap can be prethreaded and the tear-01f tabs forced against the cap once it is aflixed, the tabs being laid against the cap either by rolling or by radial pressure simultaneously applied over the desired portions of the tabs. In fact, both cap and tabs can be made to conform to the contour of the threaded container simultaneously by uniformly applied radial pressure transmitted thereto by, for instance, a contractible pressure member encompassing those portions to be deformed. It is apparent that the shoulder 14 of the locking band can be formed inwardly to secure the band to the container in a number of ways. It, for instance, may be rolled in, or may be formed by a contractible ring capable of deforming the metal of the band.

In the form of closure by which the invention is illustrated, two operations are necessary to remove the screw-threaded closure cap. The tear-olftabs must first be removed from contact with the cap, and then the locking band must be torn or ruptured. In the form of looking band shown, the locking band is vertically scored below the tear-01f tabs so that the band can be torn by pulling the tabs downwardly. It should be understood that numerous modifications are possible which incorporate the present invention. For instance, the tear-oil tabs might be horizontally scored or cut at or near the point of junction with the band, so

that when the tabs are displaced from contact with the cap they will fracture along the line of scoring-0r line of perforation as the case may be. In order then to remove the band, the band can have either horizontal or vertical scoring or perforations, so that it will sever along the weakened lines upon an attempt to remove the screw-threaded cap by rotation. In other words, the present invention is found in the addition of a second tamperproof characteristic to a two-piece closure consisting of a closure cap and frangible locking band. This the invention accomplishes in a simple and economic manner by utilizing elongated tear-off tabs, which are formed integrally with the locking ring itself, from metal which otherwise would merely be scrap metal blanked out of the larger disc from which the locking band is formed.

The completed closure with the tear-off tabs folded down upon the top of the cap may, if desired, be used to serve a purpose in addition to making the container contents more secure from alteration than they otherwise would be; that is to say, the ends of the tabs can be made long enough to receive and retain a strip of advertising matter, or if the seal is used with taxable liquids, a revenue stamp.

Although the invention has been described with reference to one illustrative embodiment, the possibility of numerous modifications that come within the spirit of the invention has been pointed out, and we, therefore, with the intent to include all such modifications coming within out invention, claim as follows:

tion thereof bent substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis of said cap and bearing intimately against the top of said cap, whereby said cap is rotatably locked by said tabs until displacement thereof from contact with said cap.

2. In a sealed container having a threaded neck portion adjacent the mouth of the container, a cup-like closure cap detachably secured thereto by complementary threads, and

a frangible locking band engaging the lower 3 edge of the cap and a portion of the container surface, the combination with said cap and bandof a. pair of oppositely disposed, elongated tear-- off tabs integrally connected to said lockingband, each of said tabs conforming with the threaded cap portion, and having the free end portion thereof bent substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis of said cap and bearing intimately against the top of said cap, whereby said cap is rotatably locked by said tabs until dis-:

placement thereof from contact with said cap.

3. .In a sealed container having a threaded neck portion adjacent the mouth of the container, a cup-like closure cap detachably secured thereto by complementary threads formed by deformation of said cap against said neck portion, a frangible locking band engaging the lower edge of the cap and a portion of the container surface, the combination with said cap and band of a pair of oppositely and obliquely disposed, elongated tear-off tabs integrally connected to said band, each of said tabs conforming with the threaded cap portion, and having the free end portion thereof bent substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis of said cap and bearing intimately against the top of said cap, whereby said cap is rotatably locked by saidv tabs until displacement thereof from contact with said cap.

JOHN L. ARMITAGE. JOHN E. SHARP. 

